We haven’t come that far, we just want to see more T&A should we ever be stranded 300 meters underwater with a phallus shaped object filled with seamen.
Women are smaller; there would be a moderate reduction in the usage of food, water and oxygen.
The disadvantage would be that you are drastically cutting the size of the talent pool you can draw on. Which is somewhat true with all male crews as well of course, if not as bad due to the larger numbers of men interested in a military career. Either way, a single gender crew policy strikes me as likely to hurt more than help regardless of the gender.
Unless it is a really long mission, why not let the preggers serve?
Because they might get one of those weird food cravings and eat the reactor? One day everything is fine; the next day you’re dead in the water and a giant green pregnant woman is smashing up the submarine.
mandatory birth control. Implant cant be ‘forgotten’ and honestly, mrAru’s sub [a fast attack, not boomer] hit port several times on any cruise, and was in general lurking near the rest of the fleet much of the time so popping up and shoving the pregnant one out a hatch onto another ship was not impossible. Heck, on the average northern run it used to be a few weeks at sea, stop in Holy Loch, at see a few weeks, stop at Tromso, at sea a few weeks, pop up at an ice station and hijack some fresh food, back at sea a few weeks, back to Tromso, back at sea a few weeks, hit Holy Loch again, back at sea, run around under the ice pack for a while, then hit holy loch again on the way home. Do I have to shoot anybody now or is the time lag of years ok to spill the beans about his last northern run?
Although, as a coner, there isn’t much that would be inimical to a pregnant woman - they sit there and plot dots or listen to pings, and do other nonphysical stuff for the most part. I know that as an MM/nuke there might be a concern, but I had a woman working in my machine shop up until 30 days before delivery and she did just fine doing the same work that any guy did though she did ask for help when it came to schlepping around a 250 lb valve body - but nonpregnant me would have asked just the same. Pregnant women are generally pretty tough, us girls aren’t made of glass. We have to worry about certain chemical exposures and getting whapped in the gut, but guys have to worry about chemical exposure and getting whapped in the nads - some poor guy off robs ship had to get evacced because of testicular torsion. Guys need to be evacced from subs all the time.
… that don’t have a career to lose for bedding them.
Silly, just keep all your submarines in the hospital.
I think I saw that documentary.
it’s implant today, but tomorrow a panel of 5-star feminists is going to discover that this interferes with wymmyns’ reproductive rights and have the rule thrown out. Just like they first let women into the integrated basic training “as fully equal” and then started reducing intensity of physical training and introducing anti-sexual harassment classes to accommodate them.
The way you keep the camel out of the tent and the feminists out of positions where they can bring about destructive social engineering is - you start fighting on the beaches first. You don’t wait until the invaders show up in the center of your city under flag of truce to then treacherously turn on you.
What… the… hell… are you talking about?
A somewhat analogous situation is aboard the Space Shuttle. I know there have been missions with one woman with six guys for up to two weeks. Although subs spend way more time than that on patrol the shuttle is even more confined than a sub by far. Aboard the ISS you have more space with one woman and two guys for about six months. I have not heard of any problems but they could be kept quiet.
Agreed. Marine One, the President’s helicopter, didn’t have an all-female crew until last July, and that was with just three or four Marine personnel after more than fifty years of flights. By the time the Navy has a talent pool big enough to send out an all-female submarine crew, I highly doubt it will be necessary or even desirable.
Thanks, everybody, for your feedback.
Well, you guys don’t have nuclear subs do you? Women’s eggs being subjected to radiation for months at a time increases the likelyhood of infertility or birth defects while sperm on the other hand is continually sloughed off and replenished.
Actually, I’ve seen studies that those who serve aboard submarines get less radiation than folks who work on the surface of the earth (I call them “above-grounders”). Link.
In contrast, I understand that airline pilots on long-haul flights get about two or three times the radiation of “above-grounders.” That doesn’t seem to stop women from being airline pilots.
You made me giggle.
Well, how has the “women on ships” thing worked out? I was under the impression that several years ago it was not unusual for a number of the female crew to come back into port pregnant or be released from duty while underway because they became pregnant. Is this no longer an issue for the surface navy?
Here’s an interesting study.
http://www.nmcphc.med.navy.mil/downloads/sexual_health/choices_milmed_168_1_11.pdf
The fecundity of active duty military females is astounding.
Mr Burns: Smithers, what do you think about having a woman on this ship?
Smithers: Well sir, women and seamen don’t mix in my opinion.
Mr Burns: Yes Smithers, we know YOUUURRR feelings on the topic.
Paraphrased from the Simpsons King Kong episode.
And can they make “hovering” a court martialable offense?
This strikes me as one of those “did you read your own cite?” issues, since (a) the study doesn’t address women becoming pregnant on ships and (b) it concludes that the military’s Choices training program reduces pregnancy rates by 35% from the national average.
I am all and righteously for the abolition of any institutional barrier that keeps women from going down.
You may now resume mature discussion of a serious issue of national-defense policy.
I personally would not want to go down in a submarine with a bunch of horny men for months. Nope, not good…
Species?
Yes, Like some military training program is going to keep a woman from being raped. Haha
"Please officer Sir, under the military choices training program you are not allowed to take off my blouse, hey stop that, help!!!:dubious: